Tuesday, December 07, 2004

Monkey Cloning Hype

University of Pittsburgh researchers have cloned the first monkey embryos from which stem cells could be removed, a feat that the very same researchers once suggested might be impossible.

While scientists have cloned sheep, pigs, cows, cats and other animals, cloned primates remained elusive until South Korean researchers cloned human embryos earlier this year using a new technique.

Gerald Schatten, the lead researcher on the latest study, to be published in the Dec. 11 issue of Developmental Biology, wrote in April 2003 in Science that perhaps primates pose a unique challenge because of a fundamental molecular obstacle. But now, Schatten is delighted to have proven himself wrong. He and his colleagues did it by adopting the cloning method pioneered by the South Korean scientists.

Current media hype here. Of course if you read the monkey news regularly you would have seen this story reported a month and a half ago here. Where's the love?